Polymer compositions with different additives for the production of molded articles are known.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,746 describes a nonwoven fabric made of cellulose fibers, which comprise a flame-resistant phosphoric component.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,007 describes modified rayon fibers, with a modifying agent for improving the dyeing properties of the fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,702 discloses melt-spun, cold-drawn fibers from a synthetic organic polymer with additives. Said additives may be receptors, flame-resistant rendering agents, antistatic agents, stabilizers, mildew inhibitors or antioxidants.
“Lenzinger Berichte”, 76/97, page 126 moreover discloses a lyocell fiber spun from a cellulose solution in N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (hereinafter called “NMMNO”), into which may be incorporated 0.5 to 5 weight-%, relative to the cellulose weight, of cross-linking agents for improving the wet abrasion value. It is additionally described to incorporate lyocell fibers, carboxymethylchitin, carboxymethylchitosan or polyethylene imine for improving the fungicidal properties, polyethylene imine for the adsorption of metal ions and dyes, hyaluronic acid for improving the bactericidal properties, xanthene, guar, carubin, bassorin or starch for improving hydrophilicity, water adsorption and water vapor permeability, or starch for the accelerated enzymatic hydrolysis.
WO 98/58015 describes a composition containing fine particles of solid matter for the addition to a formable solution of cellulose in an aqueous tertiary amine oxide. The composition is made of solid particles, tertiary amine oxide, water and at least another substance. Said other substance may be a stabilizer or a dispersing agent. The solid particles may be pigments.
Furthermore, it is known that high concentrations of iron and transitional metals influence the stability of a spinning mass of cellulose, NMMNO and water. High iron concentrations decrease the disintegration temperature of the solution to such an extent that explosion-like disintegration reactions of the solution may occur. The disintegration and stabilization of cellulose solved in NMMNO is described in “Das Papier”, F. A. Buitenhuijs 40. year, volume 12, 1986, which also mentions the influence of iron—Fe(III) on said cellulose solutions. With an addition of 500 ppm of Fe(III) more than 40% of the NMMNO were transformed into the disintegration product N-methylmorpholine (“NMM”), whereby the addition of Cu+2 also reduces the stability of the solution. With the addition of copper to an NMMO cellulose solution free of copper the disintegration temperature (T onset ° C.) was reduced from 175° C. to 114° C. in the presence of 900 mg copper/kg of the mass. Moreover described is the positive effect of stabilizers such as propyl gallate and ellagic acid.
The addition of additives to fibers moreover causes difficulties in preserving the properties of the fibers such as mechanical stabilities, fiber elongations, loop strength, abrasion resistance, dye receptivity.
JP 1228916 describes a film made of two layers of woven material or nonwoven fabric, between which fine flakes of algae material such as Rhodophyceae are filled by means of adhesives or by hot welding. Thus, a film is obtained which, when used, improves the health.
Said film has, however, the disadvantage that the finely grounded (comminuted) algae material is present in hollow spaces between said two layers, so that the algae material escapes when the film is torn and is separated from the environment by the layers.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,421,583 and 4,562,110 describe a method, wherein fiber material is produced from alginate. For this purpose, alginate is obtained from the sea plants by means of an extraction method, and the so obtained soluble alginate is directly spun to form fibers.
DE 19544097 describes a method of producing molded articles from polysaccharide mixtures by dissolving cellulose and a second polysaccharide in an organic polysaccharide solvent mixable with water, which may likewise contain a second solvent, by molding the solution under pressure through a nozzle to form molded articles and by solidifying the molded articles by means of coagulation in a coagulating bath. Apart from cellulose, hexoses with glycosidic 1,4 and 1,6 linkage, uronic acids and starch, especially pullulan, carubin, buaran, hyaluronic acid, pectin, algin, carrageenan or xanthene are mentioned therein as second polysaccharides. Moreover, it is described that, apart from a second polysaccharide, also a third polysaccharide, preferably chitin, chitosan or, respectively, a corresponding derivative may be used. The molded articles obtained according to this method are used as means for binding water and/or heavy metals, as fiber having bactericidal and/or fungicidal properties or as yarn with an increased degradation velocity in the stomach of ruminants.
The use of nucleation agents in the production of molded articles from thermoplastic high polymers, especially α-olefinic polymers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,926. As nucleation agents amino acids, the salts thereof and proteins are, inter alia, mentioned.
For reducing the fibrillation tendency in cellulosic molded articles it is known to apply defibrillation agents on the freshly spun or dried fiber in a subsequent treatment step. All previously known defibrillation agents are cross-linking agents.
According to EP-A-0 538 977 cellulose fibers are treated in an alkaline medium with a chemical reagent comprising 2 to 6 functional groups capable of reacting with cellulose, in order to reduce the fibrillation tendency.
Another method for the reduction of the fibrillation tendency of cellulosic molded articles by means of a textile auxiliary agent is described in WO 99/19555. So far a solution for reducing the fibrillation of the cellulose fibers during the spinning process has not as yet been found.